Review of Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) by Kimberly E — 11 Apr 2009

This has been one of my favorite movies since I was very young. Singing and dancing and Jesus! But not the typical Jesus story. This shows him as a complicated man, making hard decisions. "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" shows a Jesus who is unsure and scared about the sacrifice he is about to make. Judas also takes on much more life than typical retellings of the "greatest story ever told." He, like Jesus, is a man faced with very hard decisions about survival and the good of mankind. The parallel between the two men is drawn well. Perhaps even more painful than Jesus' crucifixion is Judas' realization that he has been used. This retelling highlights the doubts, hesitations, and politics which generally get hidden by the Christian Church.

As the movie begins, we see a bus full of people travelling into the desert. As the Overture pounds out its impelling rhythm, we see the "players" put on costumes and set the stage for the play that is to come. And this is one of Jewison's most compelling changes from the stage play. By highlighting the artificiality and "play-like" quality of the story, he also implicates the audience. This story/movie/play would not happen without us, the audience members willing to passively view what happens.

The movie is fairly cinematically simple, but that serves the story well. Jewison lets the music be the star of the picture. And the Lloyd-Weber/Rice libretto is really something. Perhaps their best. Well worth a viewing, regardless of your belief.